Why does “echo on > /dev/x10/a” inconsistently turn on lights?
A couple of people have asked this question so it is worth explaining. This question implies that the user doesn’t fully understand the X10 protocol. Don’t take that as an insult if you asked the question. It took me a couple of weeks of reading and testing to understand the X10 protocol and there is likelihood that I still don’t fully understand it. Joe User likely hasn’t spent that much time reading through the X10 standard so this is a valid question. The answer is that the protocol allows you to gang devices together by sending their addresses on the line without a command. Every device that hears its address will then start listening for a command on the line. Once a command is received, if another address is seen, the devices will all reset and stop listening for a command and start listening for their address again. As a result, you can send A1, A2, A5, AON, A3, A4, A6, A8, AOFF to turn A1, A2, and A5 on, then turn A3, A4, A6, and A8 off. This would be equivalent to the followin
